An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O'Connor (husband Frank O'Connor).

As Pryor said, "Doctors cost a lot more money than books earn and she could be totally wiped out" without the aid of these two government programs. Ayn took the bail out even though Ayn "despised government interference and felt that people should and could live independently... She didn't feel that an individual should take help."

But alas she did and said it was wrong for everyone else to do so.

I like the part under the 'serial-killer fangirl' link. Her concept of a real man is great.

Yeah, I know. We continually ran into this problem with the Libertarians in my local group, before I became too disgusted and stopped following the message boards.

When asked how they prevent pure capitalism from turning into corporate monopolies, they've got nothing. They just quote stuff from their holy book, which they must have hidden away somewhere, about how in a pure capitalist society, there won't be anything to prevent newcomers from getting into the market. But what about companies that grab control of a necessary resource and strangle out competition by denying access? In a pure capitalist society, there won't be anything to prevent newcomers from getting into the market. Yes, but how do you implement that? In a pure capitalist society ...

God dammit. They're all ideals and no implementation.

Just in this conversation, I can't seem to get Michael Tricoci to understand how minimum wage laws and other socialist regulations are what prevent factory towns where everyone is economically enslaved to the corporate store. If we didn't have that baseline to go by, corporations would cause an ever downward spiraling drop in the standard of living of their workers, until we were back to the slave wages of the 1800's.

Basically, their ideas work within groups of 100 people or fewer. When you try to build a society upon it, rather than a small tribe, it breaks hideously. There's are reasons we created societies in the first place.

We have socialism for the rich. Minimum wage keeps biz from paying people a living wage so we end up paying taxes to support the poor and their children. Agri Biz gets billions every year that was supposed to keep farms from folding and insure more stable income for farmers. The rich get richer because they have rigged the game.

Rand was a drug addict, a hypocrit who accepted government checks thru a secretary (claiming healthcare expenses!) and a dictator within her intellectual group. Freedom of thought was only for Rand. Her long time lover, Nathaniel Branden, has run a psychology practice specializing in helping devout followers of Rand for decades. Helping them get over their sense of emptyness that no one is good enough for them and why they don't have a wider circle of friends. Rand treated her husband Frank O'Connor, and almost everyone else, like crap. Her mood swings were legendary. Her compassion similar to a sociopath.

Her character, John Galt, manipulated the striking workers into destroying society and essentially handing it over to him because he was 'superior.' I suppose their rights and needs were less important than his. Is all fair in money and greed? All this theory hangs on to is the idea of the Uberman. The superior man with whom the world would cease to exist. Good luck on finding your Dominique Francon. She is an unsolvable paradox of a woman- totally free and yet totally in the thrall of the perfect man.

Libertarianism is fundamentalism. A cache of apocalypse food, a few guns, and dogma you adhere to and hostility to othe points of view. Get on your knees before the $! Amen! Praise the Uberman!

Libertarians champion neo feudalism. If you fall on bad times you are at the mercy of those who are well off. How long would this libertarian society last until the haves are demanding that their workers pay extra for acess to houseing, food, security, and medical care? This kind of quasi slavery worked here in the south for a long time. Mainly blacks, but some whites, were kept low with 'share cropping.' My dad lived that. He worked from 5 am till 7 pm or later from 8 yo. The babies were watched by the children younger than him. How's that for taking care of yourself?

Then again, why put up with this when the masses can just storm the castle and shoot the Lord? This is why the feudal Lords had a King as arbiter or final word and a mutual protection pact among themselves. Just can't get away from society organizing itself.

The strongest groups find, utilize, and reward the strengths of individuals while supporting the the group as a whole.